Jan. 1 (UPI) -- Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine to date overnight on Monday, firing 90 Shahed drones and killing a 15-year-old boy in the Odesa region.
The attack spanned multiple fronts as missiles were launched on the Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, Ukraine's air defense force said on Telegram.
Ukraine's military said its air defenses worked in all regions, bringing down a record 87 drones.
"The air attack was repulsed by mobile fire groups of the Defense Forces, fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force," the the Air Force said. "The attack was carried out in waves from four directions: Cape Chauda, Balaklava-Crimea, Kursk, Primorsko-Akhtarsk-Russian Federation."
Related
Four guided anti-aircraft missiles were launched on the Kharkiv region while three anti-radar missiles and a Russian cruise missile were launched on Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Ukrainian officials in the Odesa region say Russia's attacks "deliberately" targeted residential areas.
"Around midnight, the enemy deliberately directed part of the drones at the residential quarters of the sleeping districts of Odessa and the suburbs, where people in their own homes were going to celebrate the New Year with their families," Ukrainian governor of the Odesa region Oleg Kiper posted on Telegram. "At least 3 multi-apartment high-rise buildings, 3 private houses, and farm buildings were damaged as a result of the downed UAVs falling."
Although 28 drones were shot down in the region, a 15-year-old boy was killed and more were wounded.
The attacks also targeted Ukraine's port infrastructure, according to The Kyiv Independent.
The attack lasted 11 hours, beginning in the afternoon on Sunday and ending early Monday morning.
It followed a day of intense Russian shelling on Friday that killed almost 40 people in Ukraine. More than 150 missiles and drones were launched, marking Russia's largest bombardment since Russian President Vladimir Putin began the invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago.
Meanwhile, Russian officials said shelling by Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donetsk region killed four and injured more than a dozen people on Sunday.
